Shareholder suits filed against Gateway sale

Acer's proposed acquisition of rival PC maker Gateway is under fire from two investor lawsuits, both alleging that that Gateway directors breached their fiduciary duties to stockholders by approving the buyout and that they are selling the company below its worth to Acer.

Gateway was once valued in the billions. The company turned down a bid from Compaq for $7 billion in 1997, although it has lost that kind of market value after the end of the dot-com boom.

The two companies agreed to a deal in August in which Acer would acquire Gateway for $710 million, vaulting the Taiwanese company as the world's third-largest PC vendor. The combined revenue of the two companies is expected to top more than $15 billion, and their combined shipments would top 20 million desktops and laptops annually. However, if Gateways biggest shareholders start to take issue with the price of the deal, the acquisition could face a setback.